Fuel tank

[pureadrenalin]

Looking at doing multiple long distance drives when I get around to building, and finishing my Westfield(...someday I'll afford one...)

 

What is the largest tank that can be fitted? I don't want have to stop every 250mi for fuel. With a Hayabusa motor, and cruising at 70mph, I estimate 40-50MPG. I would love to fit a 20-25gal cell. Possible or no?

[Hank]

The long range Westfield fuel tank is 45 liters = 11.8 gallons.

 

My Westfield Megabusa gets ~22 mpg cruising at 70mph. Keep in mind it has the same coefficient of drag as a Hummer H1. And that's before you put my roll cage on.

[11Budlite]

Here's a link to where Tony V. added an auxiliary tank to his Caterham: [/url]http://lotusowners.com/RepairsUpgrades/Caterham/index.htm He ended up with about 17 gallon fuel capacity. I guess how big a tank you can fit depends on how much luggage capacity you want to lose and how much you can afford for a custom tank or fuel cell. After about 200 miles in my Birkin I'm ready to get out and stretch my legs!

[Kitcat]

Dittos, Budlite, the limiting factor when touring in a seven is driver stamina, not mpg. I usually stop after 145-55 miles, stretch, answer the same questions by admirers (How much $, speed, mpg, kit car, mfg), and repeat in 2 hours:).

[pureadrenalin]

fair enough. I didn't realize that the drag was that bad. I mean, I knew it wasn't great, but a Hummer? Yikes. Well, I suppose, there isn't anything wrong with weight reduction, and some aero bits to help that.

 

Thanks!

[WestTexasS2K]

You can do like we do during 1 lap. Put a 35 gallon tank in a trailer and plumb it to the car tank and refill on the fly. 45 gallons x25 mpg = 1125 mile range. I usually have to pee by then. I guess you can do what the NASA chick and throw on a diaper and get there quick.

[S1Steve]

After 2 hours in that beer can on wheels, I am out of gas.....

[Alaskossie]

I didn't know about Tony V.'s auxiliary fuel tank, but came up with my own similar version for my drive from Colorado to Alaska last year.

 

I was concerned both about the possible unavailability of gas on the Alaska Highway, and certainly the periodic unavailability of 91-octane gas.

 

My tank was welded up out of aluminum by a local fishing-boat fabrication shop. It holds a little more than 5 gallons. My plan was to lose as little boot space as possible.

 

This tank fits between the shock towers, up against the slanting seat bulkhead. I put a layer of carpet between the bulkhead and boot floor, to keep the tank from rattling or chafing. The tank is held in place by two seat-belt straps and buckles, which are threaded through seat-belt anchor loops bolted to extended shoulder-strap bolts on the bulkhead frame cross-member.

 

The tank has two motorcycle-sourced screw-on caps (one for a removable screw-in filler nozzle, and the other to vent the tank when filling or emptying). There is also a one-way vent hose to take care of fuel expansion while on the move.

 

My plan was to remove the tank from the boot and fill it with premium gas, and then when I needed to re-fill and no premium was available, to remove the tank from the boot and tip it into the regular filler inlet. Getting the tank into and out of the boot is a bit of a struggle, however. So my new plan is to fix the tank so that it can be filled in place, and then pumped, with a hose and a squeeze-type outboard motor hand-pump, into the regular filler when needed.

 

Of course, when not needed, my auxiliary tank can simply be removed from the boot.

 

I'm also thinking about a re-design of the standard Caterham tank that may add about a gallon to its capacity, but will not reduce boot space.

 

Tony Wiltshire at Axminster Specialist Panels in UK (http://andywiltshire.com/index.htm) offers a long-range Caterham tank, but it involves losing some boot space in the main part of the boot.

[jlumba81]

I did a 1500mi round trip from Haines, AK to Anchorage, AK last Sept. I used 3 gas cans. 2-2.5gal and one 2 gal can. The 2.5 gal can fits well in the trunk, much better than the 2 gal can. Made the 750mi to Anchorage w one fill up using all the cans. Had no choice since none of the gas stations on the canadian side were open.

[Alaskossie]

jlumba81,

 

Was that Sept. of '10 or Sept. of '11? You should have given me a call in Anchorage....

 

There are so few of us up here (4 in Alaska at last count, with one more reportedly sighted), that we need all the mutual support we can muster.

 

Maybe I can drive down for a visit next summer......

[jlumba81]

I was only up there from Sept 16-19th to do the autox event and visit family. 15hr night drive there and 12hr day drive back. Probably going to look into building an external rack that mounts on the spare tire carrier to carry the gas cans. Fyi to keep the thread on track I was getting around 35mpg @ 65-70mph one way at night and 27-30mpg @ 80mpg on the way back. Rushing back to catch a ferry forced me to worry more about speed than fuel range.

 

200+ mi nonstop in a 7 is a bit much. I usually had to empty my bladder around the time the 7 needed a fillup. Also consider putting in some seat padding unless you plan on driving on perfectly smooth roads. Ah frost heaves @ 80mph had me scraping the skidplate on bumps and dragging my rear exit exhaust on dips. I'm planning on running slightly taller tires on the next run for a May autox event. I drove w the full weather top and doors. My sound meter gave me a reading of 85db at 60mph so I usually drive w earplugs or an mp3 player w earbuds. 85db over 8hrs gives you permanent hearing loss.

Edited October 13, 2011 by jlumba81